A Class non-foiling

The official organisation for the A-Class catamaran is the IACA (International A division Catamarans Association). The A-Class rules were expanded over time to prevent the cost of these boats from rising too high and to ensure fairness in racing. Currently the main A-Class class rules are:[3] Min overall boat weight : 75 kg / 165.3 lbs Max overall boat length : 5.49 m / 18.3 ft (= still the old IYRU rule) Max overall boat width : 2.30 m / 7.5 ft (= still the old IYRU rule) Max sail area incl. mast : 13.94 m2 / 150.0 ft2 (= still the old IYRU rule) The A-Class Catamaran, often abbreviated to A-Cat, is a developmental class sailing catamaran for singlehanded racing. The class was founded during the 1960's and was part of the 4-tier IYRU (now ISAF) approach to divide up the sports catamaran sailing scene into 4 separate groups. These A, B, C and D classes were governed by a very small set of class rules to which each design had to comply. In the beginning it was just: * Maximum hull length * Maximum overall width * Maximum sailarea All boats designed and build to these specs would be grouped into one fleet and race each other for crossing the finish line first. The A-Class is really the only true survivor of those 4 main classes. The B-Class quickly splintered into a score of sub classes like the Hobie 16's, Formula 18's and other classes that contain far more and far stricter class rules. The C-Class quickly developed into the really high tech and vanguard boats that were used in the Little Americas Cup. These require immense investments of time and money to race and so this class is extremely small but still maintains its status as the ultimate sailing catamaran designs. The D class never really got off the ground in earnest. The official organisation for the A-Class catamaran is the IACA (International A division Catamarans Association). The A-Class rules were expanded over time to prevent the cost of these boats from rising too high and to ensure fairness in racing.